To Save the Doctor
by A Hopeful Voice
Summary: And just as if the universe were on their side for once, the door beside the booth opened and out stepped a petite girl with brown hair. "Hello," she said. "The Doctor asked me to meet you here. He needs your help." [AU Impossible Astronaut, DoctorRose, AmyRory]
1. Prologue

**To Save the Doctor**

_Prologue_

[You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear? -The Doctor, _Doctor Who_]

* * *

Time seemed to slow to nearly a standstill as the Doctor's body fell to the sand. How could this have even happened? One minute, he was alive and well, joking around with his best friends, but then that astronaut came and now he was dead. But it didn't seem real. They ran over to his body, not wanting it to be real. It _couldn't _be real. This couldn't be happening.

River quickly scanned him with her futuristic device that didn't really have a name. Pocketing it, she pulled out her blaster and fired every round she had into the retreating back of that impossible astronaut. It didn't affect him. Her aim was shoddy because of her tears and frustration, but even then, it didn't seem that the bullets were making any impact on the astronaut's back.

Amy was spread over the Doctor's body, Rory standing above her awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Her voice thick, Amy squinted through her tears and the hot Utah sun to look up and say, "River, he can't be dead. This isn't possible."

Hard for her to say aloud, River answered, "Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle. His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one."

"Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something," Amy wondered, breaking off into more cries of anguish for her best friend. River felt sick; the remaining regenerations she had sacrificed so that he could live were suddenly gone to waste. But if the Doctor was dead, what purpose did she have to live for anyway?

The old man from before walked over, a can of petrol dangling from his hand. "I believe I can save you some time," he said, obviously American. "That most certainly is the Doctor, and he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this."

"Gasoline?" asked Rory, not fully understanding.

River was able to explain, as hard as it was for her, "A Time Lord's body is a miracle, even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell. We can't leave him here, or anywhere."

Amy started shaking the Doctor's limp body, smacking his face and shouting, "Wake up! Come on, wake up, you stupid, bloody idiot! What do we do, Rory?"

Her husband looked around and saw a boat on the shore just a little bit up the beach. "There's a boat. If we're going to do this, let's do it properly."

The sun was dipping behind the mountains as they put the Doctor's body in the little wooden boat and doused it with the gasoline. Rory rolled up his trousers and waded out to push it out, then throw in a match, setting the whole thing ablaze. For such a sad sight, it seemed magnificent but still not enough for the Last of the Time Lords.

The Doctor's funeral pyre was their only light as the darkness took over the sky. River crossed her arms and turned to the man. "Who are you? Why did you come?"

"The same reason as you," he said, holding up his blue invitation that was exactly the same as the Ponds' and River's. "Doctor Song, Amy, Rory, I'm Canton Everett Delaware, the third. I won't be seeing you again, but you'll be seeing me." Without another word, he turned and left.

They stared after his truck before retreating to the Doctor's car, allowing Rory to drive them away. It was no use sitting and watching the Doctor just burn all night. Leaving was going to be hard enough as it was. "Four," River mused to herself as they walked into the diner.

Rory looked to her, "Sorry, what?"

"The Doctor numbered the envelopes," she said, holding hers up. "You got 3, I was 2, Mister Delaware was 4."

"So?" asked Rory, functioning as both halves of the Pond couple as Amy was sullenly staring off, not wanting to be grieving but unable to stop.

River said, "So, where's 1?"

"What, you think he invited someone else?" asked Rory.

"Well, he must have," said River. "He planned all of this, to the last detail."

Amy grumbled, "Will you two shut up? It doesn't matter."

River ignored her. "He was up to something."

"He's dead!"

"Space, 1969," River reasoned out loud. "What did he mean?"

"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter."

Finally, Rory had had enough. "Hey, it mattered to him."

"So it matters to us," River added.

"He's dead!" cried Amy.

River shrugged with a sigh. "But he still needs us. I know, Amy. I know. But right now we have to focus." Grief could come later, when she was alone in her cell in Stormcage.

"Look," Rory said, pointing his finger at a table in the back of the restaurant. Another blue envelope-TARDIS blue-was lying on the table. While the girls rushed over to inspect the empty booth, Rory asked the busboy, "Excuse me, who was sitting over there?"

The man shrugged. "Some girl."

River stared down at the envelope. "The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

"Er, your friends," Rory stammered, "people you trust."

"Number one," River held up the envelope, unopened. "Who did the Doctor trust the most?"

And just as if the universe were on their side for once, the door beside the booth opened and out stepped a petite girl with brown hair. She smiled warmly at them, like she was greeting old friends, but none of them recognized her. "Hello," she said. "I'm Clara Oswald. The Doctor asked me to meet you here. He needs your help."

* * *

******I'm looking to start a new full-length piece after a bunch of shorts (which have been received incredibly well, thanks!), and this is what was born, probably thanks to some _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and _Star Trek, _but this will not directly follow either plot; it was just a diving board. Not sure when I'll update, but it'll hopefully be soon, depending on the feedback I receive from y'all. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me.**

**Please review and share your thoughts! x**


	2. Chapter 1

**Thank you for all the love! It looks like I'll be updating on Sundays, but that's subject to change. Please review, and make me a very happy woman!**

* * *

_Chapter I_

[Would you do it? What would any of you do? Would you sail to the ends of the earth and back to fetch back witty Jack, and his precious Pearl? -Tia Dalma, _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest_]

* * *

This TARDIS was different, and Amy Pond did not like it. Everything seemed cold and harsh, everything was metallic shades of grey and blue, the recognizable circular patterns that could only be Gallifreyan were everywhere. The TARDIS herself seemed warm and familiar, but the rest of the console room seemed unwelcoming. Gripping the cold metal of the railing surrounding the console, Amy looked to Clara, who looked like she knew exactly what she was doing. Why did the Doctor teach her how to fly the TARDIS?

Between Clara and River, the TARDIS was put in the Vortex for them to rest safely without interruption or danger. Amy and Rory exchanged wary glances, silently wondering what the hell was going on. Clara's explanation had left many more questions than answers.

* * *

_ "How did the Doctor send you?" asked Amy, folding her arms across her chest and putting all her weight on one leg. She knew she was coming across as somewhat bitchy, but she didn't care. Her best friend was dead and another woman was coming along now claiming to know him, claiming that he sent her to them. "Who the hell do you think you are?"_

_ "I'm Clara Oswald," she repeated, nervously tucking some of her hair behind her ear, "and I was born to save the Doctor."_

_ "Bit self-absorbed are you?" Amy accused, and Rory gripped her arm to calm her down. For once, it did not work (not that he had a great success rate anyway)._

_ Clara frowned. "If you had let me finish, I would have said that he's in danger and I can't do this by myself. It's a really long story, but basically we were fighting the Great Intelligence and we went to Trenzalore-he said you would have heard of it-and I had to jump into his time stream in order to save because had already done it: circular paradox, he said. Anyway, he jumped in after me to save me, but I was lost, splintered between every moment that the Doctor has ever lived, ever will live. That's how I've already met all of you. You probably just don't remember me. I only ever got his attention twice._

_ "The Doctor saved me by stealing his own TARDIS from a certain point in time, but he had to hold everything together so I had to go alone, called it a Martha Mission or something like that. It was really hard to get out of his time stream, but the TARDIS managed. But now, I need your help. There are only two people that the Doctor needs to save his life and put everything in order."_

_ "Which two is it?" asked Rory, looking around the rest of the console room between his wife and River._

_ "That's the hard part," Clara said uncomfortably. "They aren't here, not even in this universe. We have to break through the walls of the universe into another world and bring two people back."_

_ River paled, rubbing her face with her hands. Amy noticed. "What's wrong, River?"_

_ She gave a weak smile and shook it off. "Just something I never thought I'd have to do." And she left it at that, folding her arms so the others knew that she was done speaking._

* * *

Amy brooded at the kitchen table, the warmth from her cup of tea radiating towards her face. This room didn't seem different, so as of right now, it was her favorite in the entire ship. (Well, except her and Rory's room but she didn't think she could go in there yet. It wasn't real enough to her.)

The fake windows revealing Earth reflected autumn sunshine into the kitchen, making it feel almost like fall. Amy closed her eyes and tried to imagine the rustle of leaves. Whenever this was over, she would make the Doctor take her to that planet of leave piles again. Rory would love it and hate it at the same time.

God, the _Doctor_. He was dead. Something about a fixed point, Clara said-not that Amy wanted to think about her replacement at all-but if she had traveled with the future Doctor, then he couldn't really be dead, could he? It all made Amy's head hurt. She was used to the complexities of time travel, but this was something else.

He had _died_. She saw him get shot repeatedly by that astronaut's blaster, then die in the middle of his regeneration cycle. Her Raggedy Man was gone. He was in a faraway place that she couldn't save him from. Even Clara-born-to-save-the-Doctor-Oswald couldn't save him (which made Amy happy in a selfish way).

So who the hell were these two people they had to break down the walls of the universe for to bring back here so they could save the Doctor? Amy knew she wasn't the Doctor's first companion, much less female friend, but it still hurt to know that she wasn't the most important person to him. And what must River feel like, knowing that her own _husband_ didn't choose her as the number one person to save him?

Amy couldn't even imagine Rory doing something similar. Then Amy realized: she had been a horrible person to Rory. Ever since she first ran away with the Doctor (since he crashed in her garden, really), Amy had been putting Rory, her own _husband_, behind the Doctor. She had been choosing, and choosing the wrong man. It wasn't fair to Rory. How had she not seen it before?

About to push her chair back away from the table so she could go find her husband, Amy felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up to her right and saw River. Biting her lower lip, Amy slumped her shoulders and stared down into her mug, curling her fingers tighter around its warm ceramic.

River sat down opposite of Amy after pouring herself a cuppa. "How are you doing?"

Normally, Amy would have replied with something snarky, but Clara Oswald's appearance did not have her in a sassy mood. Were he here, the Doctor would probably be pleased with her silence for once. Instead of something that could potentially be seen as rude (especially if the TARDIS was particularly fond of Clara and allowed her to eavesdrop, something Amy was slightly suspicious of River and the Doctor doing sometimes), Amy said, "I just saw my best friend get murdered, burned his body, and then was told that he actually is alive, but trapped inside _himself_. Even for the Doctor, this is weird."

River shrugged in agreement. "Only in America."

Amy laughed and allowed a smile to settle on her face. "It's been one hell of a day." River nodded, and Amy drank some more of her tea. There was a question that had been on Amy's mind since the day she first met River Song, but there was never an appropriate time to ask it. _No time like the present_, she chastised herself. "River," Amy said aloud, "are you and the Doctor married? Like, actually, properly married?"

River was silent for a moment, but had a coy smile on her face as she looked up at Amy with one eyebrow raised. "Spoilers," she said, her tone sing-song-y.

Really, Amy hadn't expected any different sort of answer, but it still hurt to think that River would never be completely honest. But she knew that River loved the Doctor; it was plain on her face, easily read in her eyes. Suddenly, Amy felt very guilty for the way she had acted on that beach in Utah. "River," she said, feeling her eyes prick with tears once more, "he was your husband. I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

Amy trailed off, but it didn't matter. River simply said, "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" Amy said loudly. A little softer, she added, "I can't imagine what I would do if that happened to Rory, if he was taken from me."

"What matters is this: the Doctor mustn't travel alone," River said, her eyes sad. "One day, you will leave him, Rory will leave him, and I won't be there. It's important that he not travel alone. He's an old man, a sad man, with only this box for company. It's enough to drive anyone mad, let alone him."

"The last of his kind," Amy mused, thinking back on the time he took her to Starship UK and they saved the last Star Whale. To River, she asked, "Why do you lie to him? All the time, all you do is lie?"

She sighed. "When one's in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve year old, one does one's best to hide the damage." She could see that Amy didn't quite understand, so she went on, "Never let him see the damage. And never, ever let him see you age. He doesn't like endings."

Amy looked down at her fingers, noting the chipped paint on her nails. She would have to go and redo them later. Maybe blue. "That hardly seems fair."

River shrugged, or so Amy assumed, since she didn't look up to see. "It's the relationship that he wants, so it's the relationship I'll give him. Because in the grand scheme of things, Amy, his life is so much bigger, so much more important than mine. I would do anything for him, and if that means keeping the truth from him, that's what I'll do."

What if that's how her relationship with Rory was? Amy could not even imagine how difficult such a life would be. Thank God he was a normal human man with normal human sensibilities. Having trust in his feelings must have been so difficult for River. Talking about this was going to make her sick.

"What did Clara say earlier that made you so upset?" asked Amy. "Was it having to find someone else to help the Doctor?"

River sighed, staring down at the table. Eventually, she looked up at Amy, the sadness plain in her eyes. "Do you know that feeling you get when you realize that as much as you love someone, they'll never love you as much as you love them because you aren't the first they've loved?"

Amy briefly thought of her harsh treatment of Rory for all those years, and felt a wave of humiliation wash over her. It should have been so obvious that he wasn't gay. And Amy had always put the Doctor before Rory, and he was her husband. It was her job to love him and only him. Slowly, Amy nodded, thinking that maybe Rory would know better than she.

"When you love someone so much that it feels so wonderful any time you see them, and they love you, too, but there was someone else first. For the Doctor, there have been dozens. Not necessarily lovers or wives, but close friends and people he could trust. I've met a few of them over the years. It's hard not to when you're in love with a man over a millennia old. Back before the Doctor stole the TARDIS and ran away from his home planet, he was married. I don't know her name, nor do I want to, but she was his wife. His official wife through the customs of his planet. Now, I'm not saying that she was 'the one' for him, but they had children. That much I know for certain. He doesn't tell me much, but I managed to get that out of him some time ago.

"It's what he doesn't tell you that should worry you. There are people he loved so very much, women he loved. Romana, Sarah Jane, Donna...but there's one more who meant more than the rest."

Amy took advantage of River's sentimental pause and asked, "What was her name?"

River shook her head. "It's not my place. She _saved_ the Doctor-no, not like Clara Oswald-saved him from himself. He lost her, several times. Every time she found her way back, but he sent her away, finally for good. He will always love her more than anyone else in the entire universe. I don't know what happened, and I doubt I ever will, but I never had a chance to compete against her."

"Well, how do you know he still loves her?" asked Amy, folding her arms on the table, half-drunk tea long forgotten.

River smiled sadly. "It's in what he won't say. The Doctor talks all the time, but he never really says anything. You know that, don't you? He can talk for hours, but he won't tell you anything that's on his mind. For most people, that's clever. For him, it's a gift and a blessing. If we knew half the things that were going on in his mind, I truly think we would die.

"I know that he loved her more than anyone else," continued River, "because of what he won't say. It's a look he gets when he passes a certain door or we land on a certain planet or he comes across something in a book that makes him smile and turn like he expects her to be there. He's a brilliant man; he plays it off like he meant to tell you all along, but there is a flicker of sadness in his eyes and that tells more than anything he could ever say."

Thinking about it, all of River's words made sense to Amy. That had happened several times over the fifteen-nearly-sixteen years she'd known the Doctor. Less often now than at the very beginning, but still there sometimes. The way he would say a word, or a look he would give her, like he thought she should be several inches shorter.

River watched Amy think, and deflated as she smiled. "And it's alright," River said. "It's alright that he loved her, because it's my turn now. I love him so much that it hurts, but there's nothing I can do to rid him of her memory. Even the TARDIS was fond of her, won't let her go. I can hear it sometimes. Her song will change every so often, whenever he's thinking about her."

"And you think that's who the Doctor trusts the most," Amy supplied.

"Oh, Amy," River said, her tone almost condescending, like she were speaking to her child. "I _know_ she's who the Doctor trusts the most."

Amy studied her friend carefully. "Are you okay with that? Sacrificing your marriage to save the Doctor? To give him back the one thing he loved the most?"

River nodded. "I have to be. I love him so, _so_ much. I just want him to be happy, even if that means being with her. To save him, I could do anything."

Amy pondered River's words momentarily, allowing enough time to pass for the kitchen door to swing open. Rory walked into the kitchen, capturing the attention of both women. "If it's alright with you two," he said, "I think Clara wants to get to work."

River stood faster than Amy could, but it was Amy who spoke first, only after a careful glance at River Song. "Let's go find the Doctor's friends."


	3. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the love! I'm glad you're all enjoying this, and if I haven't gotten back to you personally for reviewing, I'm sorry-RL's crazy. Enjoy this chapter, and review!**

* * *

_Chapter II_

["How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, _however improbable,_ must be the truth?" -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, _Sherlock Holmes_]

* * *

The console room shook, throwing its occupants to the floor. River caught hold of the console itself, strong arms keeping her close to the ship's command center to keep them on track through the Vortex. Breaking through the walls of the universe and into the Void proved to be a difficult task. The TARDIS fought them as they forced her to race for the edges of the universe (because four to one worked pretty well in their favor).

Clara was flung against the railing surrounding the console platform, nearly swinging over it to the cool steel below. She grunted as the cold metal dug into her stomach, fingers sliding over the slippery rail. After another tilt, she let herself fall back towards the console, hanging on like River was.

"This is worse than when we went to Trenzalore," Clara muttered to herself.

"River, what's going on?" shouted Amy, picking herself up off the grating. "I thought you were good at flying her!"

"It's not me," River said, furiously pulling levers and twisting knobs, "it's the TARDIS. She's fighting with everything she's got."

Clara took advantage of the angle the TARDIS was currently hanging at and swung the screen in front of her, typing into a keyboard. The others were too busy trying to keep themselves upright to ask her what she was doing, so she simply shouted out, "I'm trying to override the TARDIS' self control but the old cow hates me."

Amy and Rory shouted out in surprise as the ship suddenly lurched them all back to the ground. Clara hung on, trying every password she could think of. RYCBAR123 didn't work, nor did DOCTORWHO.

"River, what's his password?" asked Clara.

Fighting her way across the room to where Clara was feebly keeping herself standing, River called out, "She's probably changing it every second to keep us from guessing." But nevertheless, River scooted herself towards Clara, fingers at the ready to type. She was a child of the TARDIS, damn it, and if anyone could fight her way in, it was _her_.

River typed and typed, speaking loudly to the ship in English and another language that the TARDIS would not translate. Clara recognized it as Old High Gallifreyan, the language that (once she really thought about it) she had been able to read once upon a time, in an aborted reality where she was lost in the TARDIS. It was then that Clara realized that she was not alone in knowing the Doctor's name. River knew, she had to know, she was his wife. And Clara's knowing was a mistake.

The cloister bell began to ring, its eerie sound resonating throughout the ship, above the layers of noise created by the TARDIS herself. Amy reached for Rory's hand and grasped it tightly. "River, hurry up!" Amy shouted, growing increasingly frustrated at her friend's inability to hack into her own husband's computer. River was a bloody genius; it should not have been this difficult for her.

Finally, River typed in what she had suspected the password to be all along, what made her sick to her stomach: BADWOLF.

Having successfully broken through the TARDIS's defenses, River immediately leapt back into her job of flying the blue box through the Vortex, hurtling towards the walls of the universe. In a world where the universe was constantly shrinking and expanding and entirely in flux, punching through the walls would be one hell of a job. Almost impossible, if it weren't for the Doctor's Impossible Girl. River tried not to be jealous as Clara started pounding in coordinates on the screen, increasing the TARDIS's velocity and raising her energy levels to near the breaking point.

Amy and Rory cried out as they were thrown to the floor again. Clara and River guided the ship through the hole they'd created, and the console room filled with a white light. Just as soon as the light had arrived, it disappeared, plunging the room into a darkness that seemed to last forever. But then the greenish blue lights of the console began to illuminate and the time rotor began to hum again. River made a few final movements, landing them as softly as she could.

"We did it," Clara breathed, mostly to herself. The Doctor had such faith in her; it was almost frightening how much he trusted her-his Impossible Girl.

"Where are we?" asked Rory, helping Amy to her feet. River stared up at the screen with a look of dread on her face. Amy normally would have been concerned that some terrible alien force was outside the TARDIS doors, waiting to attack. Reality was so much worse: her husband's ex-girlfriend.

River was silent, but Clara walked over to Rory and said, "A parallel universe called Pete's World. This is where we're going to find the Doctor and Rose Tyler."

"The Doctor's here?" asked Amy, looping her arm through Rory's as they walked to the doors.

Clara swung the doors open, letting in fresh air and sunlight. As they stepped out of the police box, Rory took one look around and said, "We're in London."

"Parallel London," Clara corrected. "And no, Amy, the Doctor is not here, but a copy of him is, and it's him we're to find."

The parallel aspect of the universe made itself clear upon further investigation. Silver zeppelins graced the sky, a newspaper stand named the country as the People's Republic of Britain, and a campaign poster for a certain Harriet Jones flapped in the wind. Rory pulled it off a nearby bench, skimming over the words. "My dad voted for Harriet Jones a few years ago."

Amy took it out of his hands. "I think my parents did, too, after that fiasco at Downing Street."

River shivered in the wind, staring up at the sky. What she wouldn't give to be with the Doctor right now, and not here finding his, well, his Rose. There wasn't a better word for what she was to him. River might have been his wife, but she could never be his _Rose_, no matter how hard she tried.

Clara pulled out her mobile phone and started trying to pick up the network. She knew that under normal circumstances, even her Doctor-enhanced phone would not work in this universe, but because he knew she needed to come here, the Doctor made her phone that more special. Clara was now allowed to do internet searches and make phone calls (in-universe only). He'd made the same sort of modifications to his TARDIS before sending her off, enabling the ship to enter the parallel universe without dying as she had before, several centuries ago.

Amy walked over to River to make sure she was alright, and Clara approached Rory. "So, Rory," Clara said, bumping him with her elbow, "are you ready to start searching? It might take some patience, really, because we have an entire universe to search. They could be anywhere."

Rory gave a bitter sort of laugh and looked to his wife. "I think I'm the king of waiting."

Clara gave a little laugh that had the same meaning as smacking her forehead. "Of course. I forgot, two thousand years, Last Centurion."

Rory looked a little surprised. "Did the Doctor tell you that?"

She shook her head. "Didn't have to. I fell into the Doctor's time stream; I was splintered throughout his entire life, _all_ of them, even ones that haven't happened to him yet. I think I saw you, probably only a few decades into your vigil. A million different me's, it's hard to keep track."

A little confused, Rory wracked his memory. If he really thought about it, he vaguely remembered seeing Clara. He never would have remembered that (two thousand years was an extremely long time after all) if she hadn't brought it up. It was somewhere around the first century point, he thought, when he got really lonely and felt hopeless.

_"Don't worry,"_ she had said to him, leaning against the Pandorica. _"She'll be fine_."

And it had all been fine in the long run. He kept Amy safe for two thousand years, albeit in a destroyed universe that was rewritten by the Doctor, hence the return of her parents. Really, it was the thought that counted.

"Thank you," Rory said sincerely, feeling an incredible amount of gratitude to Clara. Any reservations he had had about her dissipated, knowing that she really did have the best at heart.

Clara smiled. "No problem. It's not like I had a choice really. I was lost, looking for the Doctor. And he found me." She paused, a mischievous glint in her eye, like she was trying to decide whether to say something or not. "Lovely name, Rory. First boy I ever fancied was called Rory."

He looked straight ahead, trying not to look too deeply into this. "Okay."

"Actually," Clara continued, "she was called Nina. I was going through a phase." She could tell he was uncomfortable, bumping his arm again and nearly knocking him off balance. "Just flirting to keep you cheerful."

"Who are you?" asked Amy, walking back over with River.

Grinning, Clara answered, "Is there a word for total screaming genius that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?"

"He's called the Doctor," River said a little too quickly. Amy squeezed her friend's elbow, reminding her that being snippy would not keep the Doctor from making friends.

Clara's grin grew. "I see what you did there. Let's find a cafe. I could do with some tea and a computer. Bit of a computer genius, me. It's all thanks to the Doctor. Nearly got myself killed, uploaded to a wifi server but managed to get brilliant hacking skills. I was hopeless before. I'm hoping to do a search of the government resources to find them, and maybe hack into Torchwood if I need to."

"What's Torchwood?" asked Amy, looking both ways before leading the others across the street. There was an internet cafe on the corner of the street that looked promising.

"An old enemy of the Doctor's," River responded. "Enemy, and then ally, depending on who you ask. I interned for them a few years ago. Met an old friend of the Doctor's named Jack. Oh, the things we could get that boy to do between the two of us..."

Amy couldn't decide whether to be intrigued or horrified. Deciding to not make up her mind, Amy simply allowed River to trail off without pressing for more details. Pulling open the door for the others and allowing Rory to take it to hold open, Amy asked, "But how do you know there's even a Torchwood in this universe?"

Clara grinned as she slid onto a stool at a high table with a computer. "Because the Doctor told me so, or rather, I saw it myself in his own life."

Rory shook his head. "That's never not going to be weird, and we've known the Doctor for years." Changing his tactics, he added, "What can I get for everyone? Do they even take regular money?"

Fingernails clicking against the table's surface, Clara slid a credit card across to him. "Apparently this will work anywhere, any-when. I'll have a cup of chamomile with milk and two sugars please."

Rory nodded and turned to his wife and friend. He knew Amy would want coffee, and River shook her head to deny a want for anything. Rory walked off to go get in line at the counter. Amy peered over Clara's shoulder to watch her do a quick web search of 'Rose Tyler.'

Sixty-four million results popped up instantly. Clara clicked on the first link, a wikipedia page that detailed the recent life of the Vitex heiress who up and appeared out of nowhere some three years before. Her life was private, according to the article, but she was often seen in the company of her mother, father, and supposed boyfriend, a man named John Smith.

Rory walked over then, setting the three mugs on the table and pulling up a chair for himself. River filled him in while Amy walked over to the coffee table in the cafe's corner, sifting through the stacks of magazines. Upon a search of 'Rose Tyler John Smith,' Clara was pleased to announce that the pair were supposed to be London-based, but their current whereabouts were unknown.

"It says here that they're engaged," Clara read from an online tabloid. River instantly perked up slightly, but enough to be noticed by all. Amy walked over with a magazine in hand.

"Look," she said, putting the book down on the table. It was flipped open to a page of photos of Rose Tyler and John Smith, though progressed to pictures of Rose Tyler alone. "I think they broke up," Amy said, pointing at pictures of Rose alone with her mother, Jackie, and toddler brother, Tony. "That's going to make everything harder."

"No, it isn't," Rory said, pointing to a box at the bottom of the page. "This gala, it's tonight at Vitex headquarters. It's Rose's birthday today, says so right here. We should be able to find her there."

"But how do we get in?" asked Amy.

"Leave that to me," River said with a sly grin. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a tube of lipstick. Rory grimaced and Amy smiled. To Clara's confusion, River explained, "Hallucinogenic lipstick. It'll get us in anywhere we want. Between this and the psychic paper, presumably left somewhere in the TARDIS, we're as good as properly invited guests."

"Ooh, do you know what this means, Rory?" Amy turned to her husband, "Dress up!"

"There's a gorgeous evening gown in the wardrobe that I've been _dying _to wear," Clara gushed to Amy and River, quickly logging off the computer and standing. "I'm so glad I didn't have to beg the Doctor to take me somewhere so that I could wear it out for once instead of just in the wardrobe."

"I know what you mean," Amy agreed. "The Doctor finally took me to a fancy party. Rory and I got so dressed up, it was ridiculous, but it turned out that the Doctor got the millennium wrong; turns out 5340 is a lot different than 4340! Invisible clothes were really popular in the fifty-fourth century. Needless to say, we were a tad overdressed."

Rory flushed at the memory, taking a few seconds to fall behind Amy and the other girls, willingly lagging behind.

"No offense," Amy continued, not even noticing her husband's absence, "but we have no chance against River. She's drop dead sexy when she wants to be."

River patted her hair and smiled cockily before breaking into a genuine smile. "Well, he is my husband. I must dress to impress."

"I swear, River," said Amy, "sometimes you make me wish I were a lesbian."

"I went through a phase," Clara said absently, both ignoring River's grimace. She turned around and walked backwards. "Oi, Nina! Keep up, will you?"

"What did you call him?"

Clara looked to Amy and said, "I call him Nina. It's a personal thing."

The ginger let her husband catch up to her before grabbing him and planting a kiss on his lips. "Never thought to call you Nina."

"Let's not make it a thing, please," begged Rory, leaning down slightly to kiss his wife again.

Clara fake gagged. "Get a room!"

"We have one," Amy said as they approached the TARDIS. "Want to check it out before we get dressed?" Rory smiled in response, but didn't have a chance to say anything.

Just as River was unlocking the TARDIS doors with her own key, a female voice behind them suddenly gasped, "Oh my God."


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the support, y'all. I really appreciate it.**

* * *

_Chapter III_

[But if you will brave the weird and haunted shores at world's end, then you will need a captain who knows those waters. -Tia Dalma, _Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End_]

* * *

Amy grimaced as she turned, her hair whipping Rory in the face. Standing behind them was a middle-aged woman with blonde hair walking hand in hand with a young boy. Her eyes flicked between the four of them, lingering on Rory for several seconds longer. "Don't you dare come near her," the woman said, pointing a finger in their direction. "I swear, if you hurt her again, I-"

Clara raised her hands in a motion of peace. "We're not here to hurt anyone. I'm sorry if we offended you in some way."

"Oi," the woman said, jumping in right at the end of Clara's sentence. To the young boy still standing with her, she said, "Tony, go play over there, where I can see you." After he had run off with a whoop of glee, the woman returned her attention to them. "Alright, which one of you is 'im?"

Rory looked around before saying, "I'm sorry, but I don't know-"

Hands on her hips, the woman interrupted, "Don't bloody mess with me. I'm not stupid. I can see the bleedin' TARDIS right behind you. So which one of you is 'im? Where's the Doctor?"

Surprised, River made a move to speak, but Clara beat her to it. "He's not here," she said calmly, taking a step towards the older woman. "He's in trouble and we have to save him, but we need help. Your help."

The woman scoffed. "_Please_, you don't need me. 'e never did like me. But I won't let you hurt 'er, not again."

"What are you talking about?" asked Amy, feeling very defensive of her Doctor. This woman was being incredibly rude, especially for having known someone as kind as the Doctor. "Who are you talking about?"

The woman frowned. "Don't play stupid with me. I grew up on an estate, I can see right through you. I know you're 'ere for Rose, and I won't let you take 'er. He's already hurt her enough."

"How?" asked Rory before he could stop himself.

"I'm surprised you didn't end up in bloody Norway," she said crossly. "And since the Doctor obviously didn't tell you how he hurt my Rose, I'll tell you. He left 'er. _Twice_. I was the only one who was able to pick up the pieces, along with Pete and Mickey, the first time. I'm Jackie Tyler, Rose's mother, so don't you think you can get away with takin' her away from here again, jus' to bring her back when you're done with 'er."

If she really thought about it, Clara thought that maybe she remembered this woman from a fragment of time that she was splintered in. But now was not the time to dwell on what happened in the past. They were here to find the two people who the Doctor trusted the most. Reaching into her bag, Clara pulled out the blue envelope labeled with the number one.

Passing it to Jackie Tyler, Clara said, "The Doctor left one of these for all of us, numbered. This one was meant for the person her trusted most, for Rose and the clone."

"God, he hates that," Jackie said, staring at the envelope. Finally taking it into her hands, she took a quick glance up at the boy, Tony. "Why should I take this to Rose, only for her to get hurt again?"

"For the _Doctor_," Amy said, folding her arms across her chest. "He needs us, and apparently we can't do this without her and that other bloke."

"Oi, he's not just some other bloke," Jackie argued, straightening up but still being short compared to Amy's height. "'e's family. Was family," she corrected.

"Where is he?" asked River.

A strange look, akin to anger or sadness, passed across Jackie Tyler's face. "Gone."

"Can we speak with Rose? Please?" Clara added as an afterthought. "We wouldn't ask if it weren't important."

"Who are you all anyway?" asked Jackie, eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight.

Twiddling her thumbs, Clara said, "I'm Clara Oswald, then this is Dr. River Song, and Rory and Amy Williams. We're all friends of the Doctor."

"River Song?" Jackie asked. After a nod from River, Jackie frowned. "I know that name. Heard 'im tellin' Rose and Tony stories, stories about adventures they never had. Adventures in a library with a professor named River Song, a woman who was from the Doctor's future. Thought it might upset Rose that he knew this woman had a future with 'im, but she was content with the man she was given." After a slight pause where she looked River over thoroughly, Jackie demanded, "Give me one reason why I should help you."

Clara looked between the others, knowing that what she said next could influence what Jackie Tyler chose, whether they would be able to help the Doctor or not. So after much consideration, she cleared her throat and said, "Love."

That struck a chord in Jackie Tyler, revealed upon her face. Tucking the envelope in the bag hanging over her shoulder, Jackie set her face and gave a firm nod. "I'll take this with me, and leave it for Rose to get tonight. Today is Rose's birthday. If I let you into the party, you better not make me regret it, got it?" After several nods and murmurs of assent from the group, Jackie turned to where tony was playing and yelled, "Tony! Come on!"

"Thank you," Clara said with a small smile. Once Jackie and her son (or so they presumed, he could have been her grandson for all they knew) had walked away, Clara breathed a sigh of relief. "Why do I feel like that was the hardest part?"

Unlocking the TARDIS and swinging one of the blue doors open, River disagreed, "I don't think it was. Actually convincing Rose to go with us will be more difficult."

"Why do you say that?" asked Amy. In her opinion, traveling with the Doctor was the one thing she would drop _everything_ for (hell, she did). How could anyone turn that down? Even Rory would agree with her. They made a hobby out of searching for signs of the Doctor throughout history.

Stepping up to the console, River started flipping switches for no apparent reason other than to distract herself from her husband's ex-girlfriend joining them (even though she was never his girlfriend; Rose Tyler was so much more than that). "She has a life here. A proper, settled life, something that the real Doctor could never give her."

Having flopped down onto the jump seat, Amy kicked up her feet and said, "I still don't see how that could be a problem."

River shook her head and merely suggested, "Why don't we start getting ready for that party?"

They had several hours, but they could all tell that River wanted to be left alone for a while. Accepting her wishes, Amy and Rory retired to their room, and Clara made her way to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

Feeling weak, River closed her eyes and silently counted to ten. She hated this damn emotion, jealousy. It shouldn't have bothered her, but it did. She would never be good enough, could never be as good for the Doctor as Rose Tyler. Born to kill the Doctor; what would the Silence give to see her now? Hopelessly drowning in love, only to get her heart broken by the one person who should have never been a threat.

Ultimately, she wanted the Doctor to be happy, so if that meant reuniting him with Rose Tyler, River would do it. For him, she could do anything.

* * *

The party was one of those awful work functions that doubled as a birthday celebration. Clara knew that if this were her party, she would be miserably hanging out around the primary table of snacks. So of course, that's where she sought Rose Tyler out first. They decided to divide and conquer, giving them all an opportunity to speak with Rose if they saw her first.

Picking up the hem of her dress as she walked, Clara approached the table. Everyone here at Vitex was posh; she certainly didn't fit in with her modest background. Honestly, she was surprised at how much of a Londoner Jackie Tyler had sounded earlier. A large stack of presents rested next to the incredibly large cake, the blue envelope lying on top of the pile. Pulling it down, Clara put it back into her handbag. She wanted to give it to Rose herself.

But the birthday girl was nowhere to be seen. Really, Clara wouldn't want to be here either, if it were her birthday. She would rather be at home having a cup of tea with the Maitland children, or on some alien planet. Picking up a chocolate covered strawberry, Clara surveyed the room. Most everyone looked old enough to be her parent, not really her friend.

"Bloody horrid, innit?" asked someone beside Clara. "I'd much rather be gettin' smashed right now, forgettin' the hellish month I've had."

Clara looked to the girl beside her, eyes widening as she recognized Rose Tyler. How had she slipped around her watchful gaze to be right next to her? "You're Rose," Clara stated. After a confirming nod, Clara said, "I'm Clara. I've been looking for you."

"Really?" asked Rose. "Did Pete pay you to come talk t' me? I swear, 'm not suicidal."

Clara was shocked. "Why would you be?"

Rose gave a bitter sort of laugh, taking a quick drink of her champagne. She looked beautiful in her long dress of gold sequins, almost ethereal. "Thank God _someone_ doesn't read the tabloids. Engagement in shambles, bad photographs, harassment of the paparazzi, take your pick."

"I'm sorry," Clara empathized.

"Don't be," Rose said sadly. "'s not your fault. Some things jus' don' work out."

Clara hesitated before speaking, unsure of whether bringing the Doctor up yet was a good idea. "You'll meet someone else. There are plenty of fish in the sea."

Rose shook her head. "There's no one else. He was everything to me."

"I knew someone like that," Clara said.

"Yeah?"

Clara nodded. "He's brilliant, and he's funny, and mad, and best of all, he really needed me. The trick is, don't fall in love. I do that trick a lot, sometimes twice a day. You don't know where he's going in life, you don't know where you're going, so it's really up to destiny."

"It's not like that," Rose argued. "He was everything I could have ever hoped for."

Knowing that 'he' was a clone of the Doctor, Clara understood, having felt in a much less severe way. "Maybe you'll get another chance with him."

"No," Rose said, her eyes drifting across the room. Couples everywhere, including Rory and Amy, were slow dancing in the middle of the floor. "He's gone, an' he's never comin' back. I wasn't good enough for 'im."

"Look," Clara said, knowing she needed to make Rose feel better quickly. That was what she was good at: making people feel better. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I'm Clara Oswald, and I know a lot about you."

Suddenly concerned, Rose took a step away. "What d'you mean?"

"I know you're not from here," Clara said, reaching out for Rose's hand. It was cold and shaky, but she didn't pull away. "I'm not from here either. I'm from a place where there aren't any zeppelins in the sky, where there's a mad man in a blue box running around the universe. I'm here for the Doctor. He's in trouble, and he needs your help."

Rose's eyes, wide and still, searched Clara's for some meaning of truth. No one in this universe, save Jackie, Pete, Jake, and the Doctor, knew the truth about Rose and her family.

Pulling out the envelope, Clara said, "This is from him. He gave this to me, told me that he needed you and the clone because you were the people he trusted the most. Not me, not his best friends, not his family, _you_. My friends and I spoke with your mother earlier, it was a chance meeting, really. She wasn't keen on us finding you, she didn't want you to get hurt, but the Doctor needs you, Rose. He needs your help."

Rose studied the blue envelope as Clara spoke, running her fingers against the flap on the back. She was afraid to open it, terrified. The Doctor had left her before; he would leave her again. She couldn't be left on that godforsaken beach in Norway once more. Not after last time.

She didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell onto the envelope. Without a word to Clara, Rose turned and walked away, out of the ballroom and down the hall, into the loo. Rose walked into the last stall, lowered the lid, locked the door, and sat down, staring at the card stock in her hands.

This was real. She could feel it. Her Doctor was gone, but this one wanted her, needed her. The human Doctor had been amazing, up until he left her, but this was what she always wanted. No matter how many times she told him, he never believed that she could go the rest of her human life without settling down, without having children.

A long time passed before Rose opened the envelope. She took one look at the words on the page, nothing personal even, just coordinates and a very general quick message. Her mind was made up. She had spent her whole life with her family, it was time for her to run.

And run she did.

Springing out of the bathroom stall, Rose nearly bowled over Clara as she sprinted from the loo. "Let's go now," she said hurriedly. "I want to see him. Take me to the Doctor."

"It's not that simple," Clara said, trying to steady Rose, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's going to take time and planning and-"

"I don't care!" Rose exclaimed, suddenly frantic. "I need him, I need him right now. Please, _please_, let's just go."

Amy walked up behind Rose and Clara, interjecting herself into the conversation. "What's going on?"

Clara looked to Amy, prepared for support. "Rose," Clara said gently, "this is Amy. She's a friend of the Doctor, too, with her husband. They're going to help us find the Doctor."

"Find him?" asked Rose. This was supposed to be simple, he was supposed to just be there, waiting for her. She _always_ came back, he should have just known. "What do you mean find him? Where is he?"

"It's a long story," Clara said. "Let's go back to the TARDIS. I'll make tea and we can talk there." She turned to Amy, lightly grabbing her arm just above the elbow. "Amy, go find your husband and River, we need to get out of here."

Amy nodded and set off into the rest of the throngs of people. Rose began heading towards the doors before stopping in her tracks. Clara looked at her in curiosity, obviously wondering why she'd stopped. Rose threw a glance into the crowd, fervently searching for her family. "I've got to say goodbye to my mum and brother," she explained. "If I go with you, I'm not comin' back. Not again. I don't belong here."

Clara stared at her for several seconds before nodding and saying, "I'll meet you by the doors. Try to hurry, please." Rose nodded and set off through the masses. Clara looked around herself, then creeped along the edges of the room so no one would try and talk to her.

Feeling a cool breeze on her neck, Clara spun around, fully prepared to tell off the person behind her. There was no one there. Chocking it up to a coincidence, or possibly just her imagination, she returned to the task at hand. When it happened again, Clara grew still. What was going on?

It was almost like someone was whispering in her ear from behind.

She shivered and looked around once more. No one was there, but she was immediately reminded of Trenzalore. _Do you hear the Whisper Men? The Whisper Men are near. If you hear the Whisper Men, then turn away your ear._ Clara set off a little more quickly. The TARDIS was the only safe place now. Was it possible for the Great Intelligence to have followed them into this universe? The odds were slim, but not impossible. She thought they were trapped in the Doctor's time stream, but if she had managed to escape...

No, it was impossible.

"I'm the Impossible Girl," Clara softly reminded herself. "And I was born to save the Doctor." Reaching down into her purse, Clara slid her fingers between the pages of her book, feeling the leaf: the most important leaf in human history.

_Do not hear the Whisper Men, whatever else you do. For once you hear the Whisper Men, they'll stop and look at you_.

Whether that was a real top hat on the other side of the room or a ghoulish alien, Clara bolted as best she could without actually running. She blew into this world on a leaf, and she sure as hell would blow out of it with the Doctor. If she ignored the whispers in the back of her mind, surely she would be safe. It was all in her head.

Clara made her way to the front door, only having to wait for the Ponds and River for less than a minute. They seemed jovial, but Clara couldn't help but disagree with them. None of them had met the Great Intelligence, at least not yet. Time was so confusing at moments like these.

The three made small talk without her for several minutes, waiting for Rose to arrive. When she did, there were tears in her brown eyes and red marks on her arms from where her nails had dug into her skin. They didn't ask questions, having each had to say goodbye to something precious before.

Nothing was said as they left the party, walking down the large marble steps in front of the building. Clara put a comforting hand on Rose's back; that was what she was best at, comforting. A light mist was falling in the darkness, glistening in the light of the street lamps.

Without any warning, Amy stopped and turned to look over her shoulder. "Did you hear that?"

"No," Rory said, gripping his wife's hand.

Amy looked around them, but quickly shrugged it off. "Must've been my imagination."

Warning bells (or was it the cloister bell?) went off in Clara's head. Feeling the whispering start at the edges of her consciousness, she took in a sharp breath. The Whisper Men would be here soon. "Run," she commanded quietly, walking so quickly that she was nearly at a brisk jog. The others took a few seconds to catch on, but did soon.

When the blue police box came in sight, Clara shifted into a full on sprint. As they approached, River snapped her fingers and (to everyone's surprise) the doors swung open. Everyone shuffled into the TARDIS, with Clara waiting to close the doors. Just before she finally shut the wooden door, she looked out and saw a ghostly figure coming towards them slowly.

The creature raised an arm out slowly, its white face grotesquely tilting in a silent screech. Whispers hissed in Clara's head; she felt faint, like she did when reading Madame Vastra's letter. The Great Intelligence was supposed to be trapped in the Doctor's time stream, in Trenzalore.

What was Dr. Simeon doing here?

Clara slammed the door.

* * *

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Some of Rose's perspective, and some new information. I'm thinking this is going to be more of a novella, because I'm not one to drag things on. Anyway, enjoy!**

**P.S. I got a tumblr! My blog is under the same name as here; I'm still getting used to the whole thing...**

* * *

_Chapter IV_

[… the secret of the Deplorable Word… that was the secret of secrets." -C.S. Lewis, _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew_]

* * *

Setting the teapot down on the kitchen table, Clara pulled back her chair and seated herself. Rose was sitting at the head of the table, her face resting in her hands. River stood in the corner, watching Amy and Rory sit diagonally from Rose. Both were twiddling their fingers, swapping glances that ranged from argument on who should speak first to whose turn it was to say something encouraging.

The Doctor's place at the table was left empty. No one had the heart to fill it.

Clara raised the mug to her lips and took a sip of the hot tea before saying, "I'm from further along the Doctor's timeline than Amy, Rory, and River. It's really complicated to explain without saying too much, but the Doctor was forced to jump into his own time stream to save me from being hurt saving him. He was able to rescue me from being torn into a million pieces and lost forever, but only one of us could get out without the whole thing fracturing, potentially undoing everything the Doctor's ever done in any of his lives.

"Before he sent me off in a TARDIS he stole from himself at an earlier point in our timeline, the Doctor told me that I needed to go to Utah to meet the Ponds and Dr. Song. From there, we were meant to go find you and the Metacrisis Doctor in the parallel universe called Pete's World. He told me to give you that envelope. Though he said we needed both of you. I don't really know what we're supposed to do now, especially if we don't have the Metacrisis Doctor."

Rose sighed, running her fingertips along the edges of the blue envelope sitting in front of her. Since reading it the first time, she almost couldn't bear to open it again. "Please don't call him that."

"Sorry," Clara said.

"I'm knackered," Amy said quickly, jumping in before anything else could be said. "I'll get up in the morning and make breakfast, if that's okay with everyone. We can talk then. I'm no use when I'm tired."

"Me, too," Rory said, standing up right after his wife. "See you in the morning."

Clara looked at Rose, her eyes still fixed on the envelope. River cleared her throat. "I spoke with the TARDIS, Rose. As far as I can tell, your old room should be in the same place as before." Without another word, River left.

Once the door had closed behind her, Rose looked at Clara and said, "I don't think she likes me."

"She's really nice," Clara said, "just intimidating. I take it you haven't met her before?" Rose shook her head slightly. "I've met her once before Utah, but she hadn't met me yet. The Doctor never talked about her really. I didn't even know she was a woman until I met her. Always just talked about Professor River Song, Dr. River Song, the Doctor's wife."

Not sure if Rose knew who River was to the Doctor, Clara carefully gauged Rose's reaction, fearing she'd revealed too much too soon. Rose hardly seemed surprised. Clara certainly didn't expect to hear Rose ask, "Does he ever mention me?" One look at Clara's eyes told Rose the answer she'd feared. "Didn't think 'e would. Jus' would've been nice, 's all."

"River about said the same thing," Clara said thoughtfully. "Not yet, of course, she's only meeting me for the first time. I've already met her. She's brilliant at acting like she doesn't know me. Unless this changed everything that has happened and now that line of events won't have happened...but it can't've because I'm making it happen. This just gives me a headache." She placed her hands on her temples. "What happened to the other Doctor?"

Rose looked at her hands, studying them intently. Seems she had been doing an awful lot of that recently. She was no artist, but she could easily paint a portrait of just how dry and sad her hands looked. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Clara amended. Sensing that Rose wanted some time alone in her new home (assuming the Doctor let her stay and Rose still wanted to), Clara faked a yawn, thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to video chat Angie and Artie. She pushed her chair back from the table and placed her mug in the sink. "Well, um, I think I'll go ahead and go to bed. Goodnight, Rose."

It was after Clara had already shut the door that Rose responded, "G'night."

She was lost in thought, feeling incredibly lonely in what had been her home for so long. The kitchen (or galley, as the Doctor so often corrected, because this was a _ship_) looked exactly as it always had. Nothing had changed in here, unlike the rest of the TARDIS. It hurt Rose that so much had changed; it was like the Doctor had completely moved on. She was afraid to ask if he had regenerated. Something told her that he had. Part of her wished she could have been there to help him through the pain, for she would have understood it this time.

Feeling a yawn rise in her throat, Rose stood from the table and pushed her chair in. Hopefully her room would not have changed. River Song had said that her old room was in the same place as before. Would it look the same? Would she even be able to find it in these new hallways?

Rose left the kitchen (_galley_) and turned left, leading her hopefully back to the console room. After several minutes of meandering and getting nowhere, Rose wondered if she had taken a wrong turn. Surely there hadn't been this many rooms when she lived here, right? Lightly tracing her fingertips on the wall, Rose sought out the song in her mind, asking for help.

One more turn to the left, and Rose was in the console room. With a smile, she whispered her thanks to the Old Girl. The smile quickly fell to a morose grimace. This console room seemed so _sad_, so lonely with all its blues and greens and grey steel. Had it changed right after she left? How long had it been since Davros?

Another yawn snapped Rose out of her thoughts, and she looked around the room at the multiple exits. One seemed to grow brighter than the others, so Rose took that exit. Her room was supposedly in the same place, so Rose followed the pattern she had set long ago: first right, second left, third door on the right.

The white door with the silver handle, two words scribbled with permanent marker on the wood just above the handle: _bad wolf_. It had been a joke between the two of them.

Hesitating as she reached for the doorknob, Rose felt her stomach drop. What if the room was cleared out, merely having some of her things there with everything else in storage? It made her feel almost sick to think that she was just another number, just another girl who had traveled with the Doctor.

As she dropped her head, Rose noticed a sliver of light coming out of the door across the hall. The door she never spoke of. It had always been there, but she had never been in there. Even though she loved the Doctor, she could never invade his privacy to go into his bedroom. He never even said that was his room, she just knew. The door was a fine, dark wood she had never seen before, the doorknob was golden, an intricate circular pattern up in the top right hand corner of the door.

And someone was in there.

Carefully, Rose raised her hand and rapped her knuckles on the door three times. She heard footsteps approach, and then the door opened. There stood River Song, dressed in an ivory bathrobe and looking very much distressed to have been disturbed. Her hair was damp, and the golden light from the bedroom made her look positively radiant, Rose was forced to admit.

A light blush darkened Rose's cheeks as she shrunk back a bit and said, "'m sorry. I thought this was...never mind. It's just, I've never seen this room used before. I thought it was the Doctor's room." Another strange thought crossed Rose's mind and, before she could stop to censor herself, she blurted out, "You're not him, are you?"

River chuckled. "No, I'm not. This is the Doctor's room. I share it when I'm here." A little coldly (or maybe it was just tiredly), River stated, "That's not a problem, is it?"

Thrown back, Rose shook her head and muttered, "No, sorry. No. Um, goodnight, then."

The door was promptly closed in her face. She stood there and blinked several times, trying to make sense of what she just learned. River Song and the Doctor _shared a room_? Rose was not naive; she knew what that meant. Plus, she knew all along that he wouldn't stay hung up on her. She was left in Pete's World with the human Doctor-her heart clenched in her chest at the thought-allowing the Doctor to move on with his life. The human Doctor had never told her who or what River Song was to him, just that he had met her and she had died. Before he was ever created, had the Doctor and River...no, she wouldn't think about it.

It still hurt.

Finally, Rose took a step back and turned to face her own bedroom door. Somehow, she was even more nervous now, knowing that the Doctor's current _something_ was just across the hall. Even if he weren't here, she knew what the two of them sharing a room meant. Hell, she had shared a room with the human Doctor.

Turning the doorknob, Rose opened the door. Instinctively reaching for the light switch, Rose was pleased to see that her room looked exactly as it had the last time she saw it, that day with the ghosts. Nothing had been moved, but nothing was dusty, like the TARDIS had been taking care of her room for her. Even Rose's second best pair of trainers was lying on the floor by her closet, just where she left them.

An involuntary smile rose to her face as she surveyed the sights. Not even River Song could ruin this for her, because this was _home_. When she eventually had showered and climbed into bed, Rose felt twenty again, like the last three years had never happened. With a sigh, Rose rolled over and fell into an uneasy sleep, full of explosions and loneliness and last words.

* * *

_Torchwood File 1.06 W-RT_

_Name: John Theta Smith, Dr._

_ID: 1963241206_

_Known as: The Doctor_

_Date of birth: 23 November 1972_

_Date of death: 5 March 2013, 13:47:?_

_Position: Field Operative_

_Target: Classified_

_Cause of death: Classified_

_Emergency Contact: Rose Marion Tyler, ID 196305305_

_File Status: LOCKED_

* * *

Rose raised her blaster and brushed a piece of long hair behind her ear. Biting the side of her lip in frustration, she glanced to her left. The Doctor was still struggling with the lock on the door. Sighing, Rose crossed to him and aimed her gun at the doorknob, blasting the damn thing off. He looked up at her and she commented, "They already know we're here anyway. Might as well give us a little more time."

He briefly jerked his head to the side and said, "I guess you're right."

"You know I am," Rose said as she moved past him into the next room. The prospects weren't going to get much better. Torchwood was doing the best that they could to fight the Cybermen, but their numbers keep falling. Rose had thought they had gotten rid of all the Cybermen, but apparently Torchwood missed some. The mechanical men remained hidden for quite some time, but someone accidentally activated one, and their numbers slowly began to grow as they became active. Torchwood's team didn't catch wind of the nightmare until a week and a half earlier, when one appeared in London. Now, they were fighting for their lives.

Rose glanced down at her left hand, grimacing at the sight of the lone ring. The Doctor and she were supposed to be getting married the following day at noon. Somehow Rose didn't think that would be possible. She knew that she and the Doctor didn't need to be married to show how much they loved each other, but it would be wonderful to actually be together forever in more than words.

A clunking sound resonated throughout the warehouse from behind the pair. Rose glanced over her shoulder and saw the Doctor doing the same. They'd found them. "Run!" the Doctor shouted. Without a second thought, he grabbed Rose's hand and they took off. The Cybermen were slow, but they were able to shoot from a distance. It seemed that their aim only got better with time. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to outrun them for long, Rose stopped and began shooting. "Rose, what're you doing?"

Rose looked up at him and said, "We've got to take care of them while there aren't so many."

Sadly, he said, "We can't win this, Rose. We need to get back to Torchwood." Once again, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Unable to fight him, Rose sprinted to keep up with his long strides. She screamed as a red jet of light flashed by her head. "Are you alright?" the Doctor shouted as they continued running.

Rose nodded, unable to speak for fear of slowing down. The footsteps grew louder, which meant that the Cyber-backup had arrived. The Doctor and Rose ran as fast as they possibly could, and Rose tried to ignore the cramps in her sides and the burning in her lungs. "We need to blow the place up," Rose shouted weakly.

"Yes, but how?" asked the Doctor. He began rambling out loud, but Rose didn't pay attention. She was focusing on running through the aisles of the maze-like warehouse. If the Cybermen didn't kill them, this running just might. They turned the corner and hoped that the Cybermen would take a minute or so to catch up. The Doctor pulled Rose down into a doorway so they could catch their breath. He may have the mind of a Time Lord (minus the influence of the time vortex, of course), but he had the body of a human. He could only last so long. "I've got a plan."

Clutching her side, Rose responded, "Then get on with it. I think we're on our own."

He nodded. "Torchwood should be sending more people over but we need to finish this before that. But it won't be safe."

Rose took his hand and gave him a tired smile. "It never is."

The Doctor grinned. "Just do as I say and you might get out."

"What about you?"

The smile faded. "I'll do my best." Without giving her any time to respond or argue, his eyes widened in excitement and he said, "Allons-y!"

They took off and the laser blasts began again. Rose couldn't lie; the adrenaline rush that she got from these sorts of things was crazy. It shouldn't excite her when their lives were in danger, but it did. And danger never abandoned the Doctor. But Rose wouldn't have it any other way.

Nearly hitting the wall, they ended up in the back corner of the room. The two of them jumped over a tall metal gate, and started climbing a ladder up the wall to the catwalk that went across the warehouse and up to the roof. With cries of "Delete!" at their feet, they were never truly in the clear.

Rose reached the catwalk and moved out of the way so the Doctor could come up behind her. Her heart was racing and her lungs were screaming for rest, but she couldn't stop now. The Doctor and Rose hurried across the metal path, dodging the blasts coming up at them. He managed to get ahead of her, and struggled with the door. Rose blasted the knob again and they emerged onto the roof.

The sunlight was bright and Rose had to squint. She was regretting wearing her leather jacket because the sun was warm, even if the air was cold. Wind blew and they heard the Cybermen coming from all different directions. There was more than one way up onto the roof.

Before Rose even realized that he wasn't by her side anymore, the Doctor had a plan. He was over at one of the large generators, trying to reprogram it, by the looks of it. Rose guarded his back knowing that there wasn't much she could do until he told her otherwise. Ignoring the sounds of the Cybermen coming, Rose searched for other ways off the roof. They were trapped, unless they wanted to jump several stories onto a concrete parking lot or a field or a lake. Rose wasn't sure they could jump that far.

The sunlight reflected off of the metal bodies of the Cybermen as they convened on the roof, making their way towards the couple. "Doctor!" Rose screamed, afraid to take her eyes off of the enemy.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the edge of the building. "Jump!" he shouted.

It all happened before she could realize what was going on.

Screaming her head off and legs flailing through the air, Rose's stomach plummeted and her heart leapt to her throat. The Doctor squeezed her hand. Rose thought the sun was entirely too bright. They were not going to make it to the lake, but maybe the ground wouldn't be so hard. Maybe the grass would be soft and cushion their fall. The wind rushed by her ears and Rose was glad she wore the jacket because now she was freezing.

Rose heard the Cybermen continue shouting and shooting, but they could not follow them. After an eternity of free fall, they hit the ground and rolled down a slight hill into a ditch. Knowing that she was going to be black and purple later, Rose checked herself to make sure that nothing was broken. She was a little sore, but otherwise fine.

And then she realized that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

"Doctor?" she asked tentatively, but then she was able to piece together what had happened.

One of those cries of "Delete!" while they were falling was uttered by a Cyberman who shot out with so many others. And one of those shots hit the Doctor.

Rose crawled over to him and took his hands. Everything else around them disappeared and Rose's stomach sank like it did that day at Canary Wharf, a lifetime ago. "Doctor, are you alright?"

He groaned and winced in pain. When shot by a Cyberman, humans die instantly. Rose thought that maybe he would live, but then she saw the pain in his eyes and tears filled hers. "Rose-"

"Shh," Rose said quickly with a brave smile. "You'll be fine. Just wait for the regeneration process to start. It'll all be okay."

"Rose, I've only got one heart, one life. I'm dying."

"No!" Rose plead, biting her lip to keep the tears from falling. Leaning down closer to his face, Rose ran her hands through his hair. "You can't leave me, not again. Don't do this, Doctor. Please don't leave me."

He grimaced in pain and squeezed her hand. "I will never leave you, not really. I wish we could've gotten married, Rose. That would've been a fantastic adventure. Now, there's something very important that I need to tell you. Lean down." Rose did so and he whispered something in her ear. She didn't quite understand what he said but the words were instantly etched in her brain. But then she realized that he shared his greatest secret with her: his name.

Rose knew that his time was running out and her heart shattered. If only there were a way that she could save him, like so many times before. "Please," Rose begged, the tears falling freely, "I love you."

He took a shallow breath, and stared directly into her eyes. "Rose Tyler, I love you more than you could ever know."

When his heart stopped, Rose could feel it in her soul.

"No!" she screamed, pounding on his chest. Jackie once made her take a class on CPR, and even though she didn't remember the exact steps, Rose tried. She pressed on his heart repeatedly and try to resuscitate him. Nothing was working. The tears blurred her vision but she couldn't stop. "You can't do this, Doctor! Come back! Come back to me! Don't leave me!"

Exhausted, Rose collapsed on his body, his suit absorbing her tears. How could this have happened? But then the sadness suddenly waned and a new emotion filled her entire being: anger.

The sun had never seemed so golden.

Rose stood without realizing it and turned to face the large building. The Cybermen must have been on their way to find them. To find Rose. Torchwood might be in there, looking for them. They wouldn't know that he's gone. That he's dead. Because of those _Cybermen_. Rose screamed, taunting them to come and find her. Striding towards the warehouse, she felt the anger grow and grow until she didn't think she could handle it.

She didn't understand how or why, but all she could see was gold, and then she felt her rage explode, detonating the building in front of her with a slice of her hand. The world went up in flames, and all of hell was unleashed. They should never have killed the Doctor.

The gold was so strong, so bright that Rose didn't know what to do. Her head felt like it was being slammed repeatedly against a brick wall and so much information flooded into it. And then the gold disappeared to be replaced by darkness and the world was no more.

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	6. Chapter 5

**This one's short; apologies for that, but since the trailer came out, this was begging to be written, so the plot will pick up next week. Anyway, thanks for the follows/favorites/reviews! Please keep the reviews coming!**

* * *

_Chapter V_

[There's greatness in you, but there's not an ounce of humility. You think that you can't make mistakes, but there's going to come a moment when you realize you're wrong about that, and you're going to get yourself and everyone under your command killed. -Christopher Pike, _Star Trek: Into Darkness_]

* * *

He was living all of his lives simultaneously. Being trapped in his own time stream was complicated and painful. His life was so long; Time Lords lived too long in his opinion. Reliving moments he wished he could change without being able to do anything about it hurt more than the loss of his people. He could do _so much more_.

Looking out over the red grasses, the Doctor kept his eyes on the Citadel sitting on the horizon. For such a corrupt place, it was magnificent. Wind rustled through the grass, the orange light shining on through the late evening. Soft footsteps approached from behind the Doctor, subsequently followed by a mind reaching directly for his attention. He looked down to his right and saw the dark hair of his wife, Eir.

She looked up to meet his eyes, a smile breaking across her face. "They have named her Arkytior," she said joyfully, but as refined as always. Showing a smile was rare for her. She was stoic and polite, raised to be the perfect Gallifreyan, but he knew her passion. She loved him with both her hearts, but he could not return the feelings. He was a century older than her, the marriage was politically advantageous for both parties and their families.

"A granddaughter," the Doctor said plainly, still staring out at the Citadel. Blimey, he'd forgotten how overwhelming having an entire race of people in his mind could be. The link shared with his TARDIS (well, in the future) flared up in his mind, and he thought of the translation. The closest English translation for Arkytior was Rose. A smile grew as he thought of his old friend, a young human woman who had taken his hearts without intention of giving them back.

When he lived this moment for the first time, he had been as pleased as a stiff old man could be at the news. Now, he felt elation and sorrow. Some of his best memories had been with his granddaughter and Ian and Barbara, but he never knew what happened to her after she married David. He left her and never looked back. It would have hurt too much.

* * *

At least he had the opportunity to skip the incredibly unpleasant moments. Being trapped in his time stream was horrible, having to relive the trauma of his earlier lives, but it gave him a chance to see people he lost so many years ago. But terror was there, unwilling to leave him be.

The Time War was always just around the corner, his greatest secret was tormenting him from a time that was drawing nearer and nearer. Sometimes he had the feeling that the Great Intelligence was still there, watching him, but he destroyed them at every chance he got (which was rare because Clara, his Impossible Girl, did such a beautiful job).

Someone was watching him, waiting in the shadows to burst into light.

He was sitting on a boulder in the valley between the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, watching the Citadel and knowing that the final hours were almost upon the Time Lords. They were making terrible decisions, had become vain and dangerous. Only the Doctor was capable of stopping them, and that was the most difficult decision he had ever had to make. Destroy his family, his children, his grandchildren, his friends, his people, his home planet just to destroy his enemy. Of course, the question could be asked of who was the enemy? The Daleks, the Time Lords, or the Doctor himself?

"The moment is coming," a low voice said from beside him.

The Doctor turned his head to the left, meeting familiar brown eyes. Eyes he had forgotten, eyes he would always remember. Her hair was long and messy and golden. She was not dressed as a Time Lady, nor as a Gallifreyan, for she was neither. How could he have forgotten this moment? It was only now that he remembered that this had ever happened.

"What?"

Her face was sad and determined. "You know," she said, offering him a hand.

The Doctor took it, wishing he would never have to let go, wishing she had not let go of the clamp just to save the Earth. He looked between her eyes, watching as something golden began to glimmer within them. "Who are you, really?" he asked, afraid that he already knew the answer.

"I am the Bad Wolf," she responded. "I create myself."

"That's what I was afraid of," he said, tearing his eyes away from hers.

She raised a hand to turn his chin back to face her. "You are in possession of the Moment. You are the only one who is able to use it. Rassilon fears you. The prophecy will unfold, but not now. You know what you must do."

The Doctor searched her eyes once again, nodding. "Yeah, s'pose I do." And then, with the greatest conviction and the firm belief that he had never done this before, at least not in his normal time, lifted his fingers to wrap his hand around the back of her neck. He pulled her to him and kissed her like he should have from the first time he grabbed her hand whispered 'run.' Their lips move against each other, her hands pressed against his chest, feeling his double heartbeats.

When their moment ended and she pulled away, he physically ached at the loss of her. If he had to relive that last day in Torchwood, the Doctor didn't know if he would be able to live any longer. "I am coming for you, Doctor," she said. "It will be soon."

And just as he blinked, she disappeared.

Only a little while later, he heard that glorious sound of the TARDIS materializing. He had never been so happy to hear his ship's engines, knowing what lay beyond those blue doors.

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	7. Chapter 6

**Another short one, but it's been a crazy week/weekend. I've had five performances in the last 36 hours, not to mention projects and stuff. If things go well this week, I'll try and update extra this week in honor of the 50th. I make no promises, but I will try.**

**Thank you for the follows and reviews and favorites! Keep 'em coming!**

* * *

_Chapter VI_

[Falling is just like flying, only there's a more permanent destination. -Jim Moriarty, _Sherlock_]

* * *

Clara braced herself against the TARDIS console. The entire ship was shaking uncontrollably, making her feel like her brain was being smacked around: not an entirely pleasant feeling. "River!" she cried out, fingers slipping against the cool metal, "What's going on?"

Hanging on to the console screen, River quickly ran her eyes over the readings shown. "We're back in our universe, but we're caught in a lightning storm!"

"A lightning storm?" asked Amy, disbelief apparent in her voice. "In space?"

"How is that even possible?" tagged on Rory.

"Solar flares," River explained. "And it's not in space, it's permeated into the Vortex. I think we caused it when we punched a hole in the walls of the universe. There's no way for us to avoid it, and it doesn't look like it'll go away any time soon. We've got to get to the Doctor. Fast."

Rose felt lightheaded, and not just from the constant rocking. She had forgotten how much her mind rang when she was in the TARDIS, particularly when they were in motion. The song that was usually golden and calm was burning and raging. Something was very, very wrong.

Pressing a hand to her forehead, Rose shut her eyes and tried to focus on the song. Had it always been this loud? It just seemed to get louder and louder until there was a ringing in her ears and thunder in her head. She didn't know it, but the others were staring at her and trying to get her attention rather unsuccessfully. She was moving around the console with her eyes closed, somehow flying the ship where even River couldn't.

After about thirty seconds of this, the TARDIS gave a sudden jerk of great magnitude and went still. Rose collapsed to the floor.

* * *

She had never seen the landscape before, but she recognized it easily: Gallifrey. The sky burned orange, the wind blowing through the red grasses and silver leaves. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. So many minds reached out to hers without even thinking about it, disturbing her for a few seconds until she caught her breath and was able to drown it out with a song of her own.

He was here.

Picking up the ratted skirt (when had she changed clothes?), Rose walked through the tall grass, up the hills. Behind her was the Citadel in all of its glory and splendor from the height of its age. She knew that it would be gone before long, destroyed in the fire of the Moment.

Where did she get that knowledge? Rose shook her head to clear her thoughts, but the information kept flowing through her, like it had always been there. Everything just seemed to make sense in her mind in a way that was very impossible, because she had always been rubbish at maths and she certainly couldn't derive the quadratic formula and hadn't even heard the words 'Hodge conjecture,' much less solve the problem, and why was she suddenly able to balance equations to figure out the exact density and composition of the air around her in relation to the air on Earth?

Nothing and everything made sense to her now. Two words flitted through her mind: _bad wolf_.

Silently, Rose walked up and up until she was no longer alone; time and space did not seem to make logical sense here. She was sitting next to a lanky man with floppy brown hair and green eyes. He looked sad in the way that she had only ever seen one man look, like the weight of the universe was on his shoulders.

_The Doctor_.

The words came from her mouth without her being able to comprehend them. "The Moment is coming."

He just realized that she was there, turning abruptly, eyes flicking over her in appraisal and recognition. "What?" he asked, perplexed by how she could be there, on Gallifrey. Rose herself didn't know. She only had the two words flitting through her mind, becoming her, molding her into something she didn't know, didn't understand.

It was a part of her past, part of her future, part of who she would always be. It was who she was the day that her human Doctor died, when she destroyed the Cybermen, when she connected with the TARDIS. _There is something of the Wolf about you_, she remembered bleakly, wondering when she became a goddess instead of a normal shop girl.

"You know," she answered, recognizing that maybe her eyes looked sad, that her expression looked grim. Rose held out a hand, wanting-_needing_-to touch him, to feel that he was here, that she had found him. If he took it, she would never let go, like she should have never let go of that clamp.

He clasped her hand between his two larger hands, and she felt at home, right here with him. She tried not to think that this was his home planet that would soon be destroyed (or had, because she didn't know what sort of reality she was currently in). He recognized her obviously, but he didn't _know_ her. So he did the only reasonable thing he could do: ask, "Who are you?"

"I am the Bad Wolf," she responded, the words leaving her without her control, like running water. She may have been Rose Tyler, but she was the Bad Wolf. "I create myself." _I take the words, and I scatter them across time and space, a message to bring myself here._

Having searched her eyes for the truth, knowing that her words were her new reality, the Doctor dropped his head. "That's what I was afraid of." She panicked; what if he no longer liked her? After all, he had River Song now; he had no need for Rose Tyler. But her human concerns vanished, replaced by a confidence that she had only felt once before. _My Doctor, protected from the false god_.

Rose used her free hand to gently lift his chin up and turn his head back to her. The way that his eyes shifted quickly between hers made her feel light and airy. Once again, the words moved without her will, without her intent, from somewhere beyond and somewhere within. "You are in possession of the Moment. You are the only one who is able to use it. Rassilon fears you. The prophecy will unfold, but not now. You know what you must do."

The presence of the other Time Lords in her mind began to wane, filling mostly with the essence of him. He was not reading her mind, nor entering her head, but it was the close proximity with him and her heightened telepathic sensitivities. He nodded once, still reading her eyes. "Yeah," he said, "s'pose I do."

It was funny to her. For having been through so much, having seen so much, just his hand in hers and looking into his eyes made her stomach flutter, her heart start to leap. She didn't know how long it was until his hand found the nape of her neck, bringing her lips to meet his, her hands rising to his chest. The thumps of his double heartbeat brought butterflies to her stomach, her own heart soaring like it would never fall. An eternity could have passed, but she would not have known. This was heaven to her.

But she was human, and needed air. As soon as she pulled away, she knew that it would be difficult for her to ever go so long without kissing him. She craved him more than the air she needed to breathe. More than anything, Rose knew that her feelings for him had never changed. She felt her consciousness begin to weaken, like waking from a dream. Before she ran out of time, Rose quickly said, "I am coming for you, Doctor. It will be soon."

She blinked.

* * *

The front of her head was pounding, the light was too bright. If she didn't know better, Rose would swear she was hungover. Of course, that thought sparked a search of her memory for the last time she was drunk enough to have a hangover. Had it really been two years?

"Rose?" a voice called from off in the distance.

Eyes squinting, Rose looked and saw Rory leaning over her. At first, she was scared he was about to do CPR, because she wasn't a princess and certainly did need a true love's kiss, but then she remembered that he was a nurse and this was his job.

"What happened?" she slurred, trying to piece together what had happened. They were on the TARDIS, then she was on a mountain-no, she was with the _Doctor_. She had seen the Doctor. She had spoken with the Doctor. God, she had to find him! "Where's the Doctor?" She tried to push her self up onto her elbows, but she instantly felt dizzy and dropped back down. Her head still felt like it was being repeatedly hit against a brick wall.

"That's what we're trying to find out," River said from Rose's left.

"When you passed out," said Clara, "the TARDIS just sort of...stopped. I mean, it's still functioning, but it stopped shaking and throwing us around. You did something to it to make it stop."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Amy whispered to Rory.

He nodded. "Slight tenderness, probably some bruising, but nothing serious. You should just take it easy for the rest of the day."

"No," Rose shook her head. "We've gotta find the Doctor. He's on Gallifrey-"

"That's impossible," River said. "It burned, got trapped in a time lock."

"She visited his time stream," said Clara, somewhat in awe. "You managed to get inside his time stream and see Gallifrey, his home. Was he alright?"

Eyes still closed, Rose nodded. "Just...sad, I think. Yeah, 'e was sad." Her head was _killing _her. It felt like hurricane-force winds were rushing through her mind, scattering everything and igniting it in a blazing inferno, like she was being burned alive. "We gotta find 'im."

"We will," Amy said reassuringly. "I'll make some tea and we can try to fly the TARDIS again, see if she'll work this time."

"Sounds glorious," Rose said, words still running together. Feeling brave and willing to try and sit up again, she opened her eyes and grasped at the floor for traction to raise herself up. She was stilled when the others all gasped and jerked back. "What's wrong?"

"Your eyes...they're _gold_," Clara said.

Rose shut her eyes again, wishing that her headache would go away. If she didn't need it, she would just cut the bloody thing off. When she opened her eyes again, the others relaxed. "They're normal now," said Amy. "That was weird."

The others stared at her like she was some sort of alien with twelve heads. Rose lifted herself up so that she was fully sitting up. River moved to stabilize her, shifting her body so that Rose was able to lean against the sturdy railing. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her forehead on her kneecaps. Squeezing her eyes shut, Rose could barely hear the TARDIS' song over the insane amount of whirring in her mind.

Somewhere above, Clara slowly said, "I don't think we're gonna have to try and fly the TARDIS. We're here."

"Where?" asked River, moving to her feet.

Clara looked at the others. "Trenzalore."

Rose's eyes snapped open, her head lifting of its own accord. For some unknown reason, a tear slipped down her cheek. With sudden strength, she stood and walked towards the doors, flinging them open. In front of her was the exact same TARDIS layout, except this one was old and dusty and covered in foliage. She stepped out of the ship and into the next, eyes wandering over the room until they reached the pillar of energy in the center. Glowing white, she felt drawn towards it. Stepping closer, Rose reached her arm out, but fell still when she heard a throat cleared behind her.

Whipping her head around (which she instantly regretted, what with her migraine and all), Rose locked eyes with three people she had never seen before but somehow recognized. "Is she part of the Great Intelligence, ma'am?" asked the human girl to the lizard woman.

"I do not think so, Jenny," the lizard woman replied.

The Sontaran beside her raised his gun and aimed it at Rose, shouting, "Identify yourself, boy."

"Strax!" exclaimed a voice behind Rose. Clara rushed out of the TARDIS and moved to show that Rose was a friend, not a foe. "This is Rose. She's here to help the Doctor. We're gonna save him. I've brought some others, too. Amy and Rory Williams, and River Song. Everyone, this is Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax. We've met a few times."

"Oh, we have met before," said Madame Vastra, the lizard woman, to Amy and Rory and River. "Unless, it has not happened for you yet."

"We met very recently, in fact," said River, "but they have not met you yet. Time travel is a tricky thing. It shouldn't be long for them now."

Rose gasped in pain and clutched her head, gaining the attention in the room. "What's wrong with him?" asked Strax, earning him a jab in the side from Jenny.

Clara put an arm on Rose's elbow, saying, "We've come to find the Doctor. And-" She was cut off by the sound of the TARDIS engines. They all turned to look, only to see the police box fade in and out until it was completely gone. "We're stuck," Clara said, her stomach dropping. "The stupid ship went and left us."

And only a few seconds after it first began to dematerialize, the TARDIS proceeded to reappear. Everyone stilled, waiting eagerly for what lay on the other side of those doors. With a creak, the doors opened and outstepped a familiar man in a deep purple coat and bow tie with an eccentric grin to match.

"Did you miss me?"

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